Makunouchi Ippo
Makunouchi Ippo (幕之内一歩,'' lit. makunouchi ippo'') is a Featherweight in fighter from the Kamogawa Boxing Gym, the current JBC Featherweight Champion, and "unofficial champion" of the OPBF. He is the eponymous main protagonist of the series. Appearance Ippo is relatively short, even by Japanese standards. He has black, shaggy hair, and his body, while being in the featherweight division, is stressed in the series as extremely muscular. In terms of skin tone Ippo is tanned, most likely from his work at the fishing boat store his family owns as well as his boxing roadwork. His eyes are dark colored in the manga, further colorized as gray in The Fighting and then a mix of green and yellow in New Challenger Personality At the start of the series Ippo is a 16-year-old high school student. He is usually a kind and reserved person who dislikes fighting, and because of that he had been bullied since grade school. He has a sturdy body and steady legs thanks to years of working for his family's fishing boat rental, and he possesses great courage against all enemies. Despite his strength and courage, Ippo still behaves rather meek out of the ring and often humbles himself around his rivals. For example, even though he has defeated both Mashiba Ryou and Sendou Takeshi, he fears Mashiba and tries to avoid discussing a second rematch with Sendou whenever he is around. He also continued to be intimidated by Umezawa Masahiko, his former bully, long after he began boxing. He has a great deal of respect for his gymmate Takamura Mamoru and former Japanese Featherweight Champion Date Eiji and he was completely shocked when World Featherweight Champion Ricardo Martinez requested a spar with him. His dream is to one day face Miyata Ichirou in the pro ring, and the two of them view each other as eternal rivals. Despite these feelings towards each other, they appear to also view each other as friends and Ippo even refers to Miyata as "Miyata-kun". Because Ippo tends to know a lot about Miyata, people tend to call him a Miyata Otaku, while his gym mates jokingly imply that he must be "gay for Miyata". At the same time, Ippo aims to become equal to Takamura in terms of strength. Coach Kamogawa puts him through strict training and the two of them have a strong teacher-student bond. Ippo trusts the coach and has faith in his teachings, while Kamogawa believes that Ippo may be the one who will eventually realize his World Championship dream. Takamura has said that Kamogawa seem more like Ippo's father than his coach, and because Ippo's father died when he was young he begins to view Kamogawa in that way. Ippo is quite friendly, and many of his rivals have become friends of his, most notably are Miyata, Sendou, Date, Sanada Kazuki, Volg, and Kobashi Kenta, whom all still keep in touch with him from time to time. He is well liked by his gymmates, especially Takamura, Aoki Masaru, and Kimura Tatsuya. Even though he still has the personality of a young boy, he still manages to serve as a good senpai for his kouhai Itagaki Manabu. When it comes to love, Ippo is definitely a late bloomer, he is naive, pure-hearted, and awkward. He is in love with Mashiba Kumi whom he dates frequently, and she feels the same for him, but because of the silent pressure of Kumi's older brother Ryou, the "attacks" of reporter Iimura Mari and Itagaki Nanako, and the meddling of Takamura and the others, their relationship has yet to progress much. The one time Ippo confessed to her, Kumi had fallen asleep after drinking too much alcohol, and unfortunately she didn't hear it. Because of his personality, Ippo is seldom seen as being angry before a fight, even if his opponent insults him or his boxing skills. However, it has been shown on rare occasions that he is capable of displaying anger whenever an opponent says or does something to look down on the sport of boxing, which he loves. Such occasions have been when he saw Sawamura Ryuuhei intentionally commit fouls in his previous matches, despite having the upperhand, and then later on when he struck Kumi with a sharp jab, cutting her face. Another occasion has been most recently, when his opponent, Kojima, insulted his previous opponents, both in person and publicly in a magazine, and also insulting Coach Kamogawa teaching methods as they were fault. This resulted in Ippo displaying a new attitude, even going so far as to calmly state to Takamura, when asked if he would have any problems, that "this won't take long", referring to the match. Nicknames History Early Life Not much is known in Ippo's early life, except for his childhood when his father died in a boat accident. Like at the present Ippo was a very shy, kind and obedient kid. He was also very strong willed and stubborn. During the time when his father (Kazuo) was missing out in the sea, Ippo went everyday to the shore to wait for his return. He believed his father's words that upon his return he will never leave Ippo and Hiroko again. Although his father never returned, Ippo was somehow able to satisfy himself that his father fulfilled his promise by finding the cap he wears during his father's departure. After his father died he was raised by his mother Hiroko and grew up assisting her with the family fishing boat business. He was originally supposed to take over the business from her, but she decided to postpone it until after his boxing career is over. When she was hospitalized after collapsing from overwork, Ippo considered retiring from boxing to run the business, but Umezawa asked Ippo to let him take over so Ippo could continue boxing. High School and Pro Debut One day when he was being tormented by Umezawa and his gang he was saved by Takamura (who was in the middle of his Road Work at the time). After that he began to take up boxing in order to learn what it means to be strong. After joining the Kamogawa Boxing Gym he meets Miyata Ichirou and has 2 sparring matches against him. In the first fight Ippo displays his impressive stamina but is still outright defeated, in the second fight however Ippo manages to hit Miyata's jaw with an uppercut and gains an unexpected KO victory. Because of this, Miyata leaves the gym in order to be able to face Ippo again in the Pro Ring, and the become each others Eternal Rival. Ippo then takes the pro-boxer license exam and pass it with ease. After the test he meets Mashiba Ryou who is in the same weight class as him. Mashiba tells him to move another weight class, but Ippo does not yield and tells him that he want to fulfill his promise to Miyata that they would meet in the pro-ring again in the rookie kings tournament. Pro-Debut Match: Oda Yusuke Oda Yusuke is Ippo's opponent for his pro debut. He was largely regarded as a lazy and unmotivated boxer, but when his girlfriend threatened to break up with him, he put his heart into the fight. Though he lost, he regained his passion for boxing and his girlfriend stayed with him. Second Match: Fujiwara Yoshio Fujiwara Yoshio is a boxer with no eyebrow. Rookie King Tournament After winning two fights upon his debut as a pro-boxer, Coach Kamogawa enlisted him in the East Japan Rookie King Tournament. Ippo also had his own goal in the tournament which is to fight with Miyata in the Pro Ring for their tie-breaker match. With his goal, Ippo aims to reach the East Japan finals to full to a promised fight. First Round : Jason Ozuma A black officer from America who was stationed in Japan, and the only black boxer Ippo has faced. Jason is a very polite and kind man who cares greatly for his gym and friends. His most revered punch, would be his devastating Hooks, which are comparable to Takamura in terms of speed. Ippo had to enter an intense infight to win the first round. Ippo had taken some major hits, but managed to turn the match around by showing no pain and pressuring Ozuma with his intense power. After an intense round, Ippo managed to take advantage of Ozuma's wide swing and his delayed punch due to a broken rib, to deliver a second down and win the match. Second Round : Kobashi Kenta A boxer that only depends on winning with points. Ippo is annoyed by Kobashi's technique which is clinch often. When fighting, Ippo is in disadvantage because Kobashi's plan of making Ippo loses his stamina works. In the final round ( the 4th round ), Kobashi punch Ippo with his right and thought that he could KO Ippo by fighting head on but his second won't allowed him. Eventhough his second won't allowe him, he still going to fight him head on and thus Ippo make a comeback and win. Semi-final Round : Hayami Ryuuichi A pretty boy who was the Inter High Champion with the fast barrage of punches called the Shotgun and Ippo's first opponent as an Outboxer. Hayami looked down greatly upon Ippo, and didn't think much of him since he felt Ippo was nothing as a boxer. Hayami would have been a problem against Ippo since he would use a short uppercut against dashing infighters and finish them with his Shotgun. However Ippo managed to counter him, by using a cross hook counter against his short uppercut, and trained to see through the storm of punches by dodging rocks which allowed him to avoid and get close to Hayami. Ippo finished the fight with a rush followed by an uppercut to win the fight in 1 round to move to the finals. East Japan Final Round : Mashiba Ryou Ippo's final opponent in the East Japan Rookie King tournament is not Miyata, but the man who defeated Miyata with a controversial foul: Mashiba Ryou. Ippo met Mashiba at his pro license exam, and was afraid of him throughout most of the beginning of the series (and he would continue to be afraid of him for the rest of the series), but after witnessing Mashiba's foul, Ippo goes into the match intending to win. Mashiba's flicker jabs exploited Ippo's short reach by keeping him at bay, but he eventually slipped in, broke Mashiba's elbow (at the expense of his right hand), and slugged it out with him until he gave Mashiba his first and only legitimate black star in the form of a KO. All Japan Final Round : Sendou Takeshi Championship Road After winning the All Japan Rookie Tournament, Ippo found out his rival Miyata was going overseas. Ippo was left with no current goal at hand. Rehabilitating his hand from the injuries from his previous fight, Ippo rests from training and started supporting his fellow boxers at Kamogawa Gym in their fights. He then meets the current National Feather Weight Champion Date Eiji, who somewhat hints to him that in the future they may face each other since Ippo is already ranked number 10 upon winning the Rookie King Tournament. Ippo then realizes that he wants to fight the Champion and trains for his new goal. Rookie King vs. Rookie King: Okita Keigo Okita is a kouhai Date Eiji, he challenged Ippo to a fight because of he was envious of the way Date fought against Ippo in their spar. Ippo defeats him in the 1st round and sets up his entry into the Class A tournament. Class A Tournament Semi-Finals (1st Round): Saeki Takuma A renowned boxer known for his exceptionally fast footwork, that earned him the nickname "Speed Star" and considered to be the fastest man in the featherweight class. Saeki proved to be a difficult opponent since Ippo had difficulty catching Saeki, but then proved to be a major problem when Saeki cornered Ippo and then used his flicker jabs to swell up Ippo's right eye. Saeki then controlled most of the match by staying in Ippo's blind spot and staying out of his line of sight using his speed. However after Ippo managed to lean against Saeki by coincidence, he started to get the timing and Saeki's rhythm down, which allowed Ippo to punch his blind spot and knock Saeki out of it. With one final rush and Saeki's slowed reactions due to the fear of feeling Ippo's punch, he got knocked out. Class A Tournament Finals: Alexander Volg Zangief A russian fighter who is gentle by nature but switches into a hungry beast who finishes his opponents as quick as possible. Before the match Coach Ramada and Kamagawa had an interview meet, which resulted in a battle between the coaches proving their boxing philosophies. Ippo managed to fight Volg longer than any of his previous opponents, but then started to take major punches since Volg had much more refined techniques. Before Volg could deliver the final blow, Volg ran out of stamina which allowed Ippo to deliver any punch with a little resistance. In the final round, Ippo and Volg entered a close range high hitting infight, where they are forced to battle nonstop without breathing. After Ippo managed to avoid Volg's trademark White Fang and Volg was ran out of air, Ippo slammed in a Gazille Punch into Volg's face to win. First Japanese Featherweight Title Match: Date Eiji After earning his right to challenge Date Eiji, one of Japan's most revered boxers, Ippo went into the match bringing everything he had learned in his past 10 matches with him. For the first few rounds he succeeded in pushing the champion to his limits. However, when Eiji began using the high-level Neck Spin to negate most of the power behind Ippo's punches, Ippo became disoriented. Eiji then began to return to his style of fighting during his younger days. He delivered a powerful Heart Break Shot which stunned Ippo, then prepared to deliver the finishing blow. The referee stopped him because Kamogawa had already thrown in the towel. As of Volume 99, Date Eiji is the only boxer to have beaten--and furthermore, KO'd--Ippo. Comeback Match: Ponchai Chuwatana A Thai fighter ranked 3 in Thailand who faced Ippo following his 5 month break against Date Eiji. Ponchai had a very well built physique and a very strong determination to win in his boxing matches. Ippo had no videos or info about his opponent so he didn't get to see who he was fighting until the day of the weigh in. Ippo's fight against Ponchai was pretty even in the first round since they were about even and Ponchai was able to use the Neck Twist to neutralize Ippo's power. However in the second round, Ippo started to land small punches while swaying left and right, before speeding up and finishing Ponchai off with his new finishing move "Dempsey Roll". Second Japanese Featherweight Title Match: Sendo Takeshi The continuation of the unfinished match, between the hard punchers of East and West. Ippo and Sendo had been looking forward to a match, since the All Japan Rookie Championship, which resulted in an unexpected ending. To prepare for the match Ippo and Sendo strengthened their weaknesses by improving their physique. This match is considered to be one of the most intense since both fighters had roughly the same amount of punching power that resulted in numerous slug fests and a footstomp that the audience did which shook the hall. Ippo originally had problems since he had a smaller body and was getting scared since he felt he could do nothing. But with a little encouragement from his friends and remembering his training he managed to continue his match against Sendo. The result of the match resulted in a mix up, where both fighters drew out the others potential and helped each other grow stronger. With one final showdown between their signature finishers, Ippo managed to pull through and finish Sendo off with his 3 strongest techniques to take the belt and title. Title Defenses as JBC Champion After obtaining the National Japanese Feather Weight Belt from Sendou, Ippo defended the title successfully for eight consecutive times. First Title Defense: Sanada Kazuki The former Japan junior featherweight champion he moved up a weight class in order to challenge Ippo, he had Hama Dankichi in his corner, he showcased a double uppercut nicknamed the "Hien" and the "Tsubame Gaeshi". He was able to remain standing for a moment after recieving the full Dempsey roll, but ultimately fell to the damage caused by it. Second Title Defense: Hammer Nao A former member of the Kamogawa Gym and former kouhai of Ippo, he dropped down from Junior Welterweight in order to get the chance to fight Ippo. Ippo tried to end the fight as quickly as possible so that Nao would notreceive much damage, but Nao was able to last until the 2nd round through a series of subtly executed fouls and even landed his signature solar plexus shot. However, Ippo's strength and experience still proved too much to Nao, causing the latter to suffer a loss. Third Title Defense: Yi Yonsu Yonsu is the first opponent that Ippo has defeated in the first round as the Japanese Champion. Ippo promised to win this match in the first round so long as Takamura won the junior middleweight title match against Bryan Hawk later that night. He knocks Yonsu out with the Dempsey roll and afterwards gets scolded by the Coach for taking such a big risk so early in the fight. Fourth Title Defense: Shimabukuro Iwao Iwao is the only fighter Ippo has ever fought that was shorter than him. This was fight was also for the right to be called Japan's greatest infighter. In this fight Ippo uses a alot more boxing skill than usual, starting off the fight with heavy jabs and using light punches in the end to set up his strong punch which was then followed by the Dempsey roll. Iwao is the first fighter to break the dempsey roll with punches choosing to slug it out , it is successful the first time, but the Second one finishes the fight. Fifth Title Defense: Sawamura Ryuuhei Sawamura presented Ippo with his greatest challenge up to this point, because of he possesed an almost genius like sense for counterpunching, combine that with a rugged toughness as well as a heavy jab and powerful straight right, Ippo is pushed very hard in this fight and reveals an evolved form of the Dempsey roll, one with a sudden stop, to make the attack less predictable and more effective. It should be noted that Sawamura had Ippo in serious trouble , in the 4th round but instead of finishing it then he chose to do more damage to Ippo and that in turn back fired. Sixth Title Defense: Karasawa Takuzou Karasawa is a former Kouhai of Sanada, this fight showcases Ippo's growth against out boxers, he does not need to use the Dempsey roll, choosing instead to seal the technique so that he can use other methods to win matches and prolong his career. Karasawa has speed similar to Saeki and utilizes it early, but Ippo uses his experience to trap him in the corner and land punishing body blows which became even stronger due to his training of hammering logs into a hill. Seventh Title Defense: Take Keiichi Take is the most experienced boxer that Ippo had fought up to this point, as well as the first southpaw he ever fought and was someone that Date Eiji held in high regard. He uses Ippo's inexperience against southpaws to his advantage through out the fight, and fights in close so as to take away the power of Ippo's rotations on his punches. Ippo turns the fight around by taking a lower stance and using Take's game plan against him. The match ends in Take losing a slugfest after Take chooses not to open up a cut on Ippo's eye and choosing to go out as a proud boxer. Eighth Title Defense: Kojima Hisato Kojima Hisato is a boxer that is two weight classes above Ippo. He has insulted Ippo's opponents and even his coach, but later it is found out that he is a huge Ippo fan. His right arm is currently useless so he uses his left arm to gain a Japanese rank. He also claims to know Ippo's weakness. This was also a short match as Ippo knocks him out after recovering from Kojima's counter in the first round. Survival Match of Asian Champions After yet another canceled fight with Ichiro Miyata, Ippo lost his drive and thought of retiring from boxing. However with the help of Iimura Mari and the words of his friends and previous opponent, he was able to find his true goal which is to become strong and went back to Kamogawa Gym to continue Boxing. Kamogawa then tells Ippo to aim for the World, but having them cut off the shortest route of getting to the top rankings by beating the OPBF Champ Miyata, Kamogawa tells Ippo that he will take a different path, which is to defeat all of the OPBF National Champions, obtaining their WBC rankings and becoming an unofficial OPBF Champion. Against Thailand National Champion: Jimmy Sisphar His first fight in his goal of reaching the OBPF national championship is against Sisphar, who earlier in the series was the first fighter to fall to Miyata's jolt counter, ever since the result of that match Sisphar had become a wreckless pure offense infighter with many scars from head butts and infights, because of his many scars he earned the nickname Scratch J. He also developed a full body hook which he called his version of the jolt.In this fight Ippo is forced to add a new element to the dempsey roll, an uppercut which added another dimension to the roll, and one that Sisphar could not counter because his full body Jolts went from a side to side motion and it it left Sisphar open to uppercuts. Against Philippine National Champion: Malcolm Gedo This fight is his second in the challenging the OBPF championship series. This fight is set up when the 7th ranked japanese ranker Fukui, defeated Malcolm Gedo in his hometown, but it was revealed that Gedo had thrown the fight in order to recieve money, he did so without receiving any damage. This outraged coach Kamogawa and Ippo and in turn caused them to put 2 million yen(4 million yen total from each fighter) on the line so that Gedo would fight seriously, Gedo was adept at avoiding any significant damage from Ippo early on in the fight, and because he wore his gloves loose he was able to trick Ippo's depth perception by changing hand positions to create the illusion of an extending arm. Ippo overcame Gedo because of the results of his sparring with Mashiba Ryou. He is able to avoid a very critical uppercut thrown by Gedo and also overcame the Gedo's illusion when Gedo decided to switch to heavy punches, making his reach more easily read to Ippo. Against Indonesian National Champion: Wally This is the third fight in Ippo's challenge of the OBPF championship. This fight is set up by Miguel Zail, the former trainer of Bryan Hawk and an acquantance from Genji Kamogawa's past. Wally has only 3 fights in his resume before this bout, was a very difficult opponent for Ippo, because of his great talent for boxing which was beyond genius level. Despite getting knocked down early, Wally controls most of the match with his speed and instincts and because he was most effective in the corner Ippo had little choice but to aim for body shots, because he couldn't corner Wally. Eventually the body shots had a cumulative effect and took away Wally's mobility, this led to Ippo landing cleaner shots and finally a showdown in the corner in which Ippo traps Wally in the corner with the Dempsey Roll and eventually knocks him out. The match is considered to be one of the most intense fights for the two Oriental Pacific National boxing champions. It also showed that with enough hard work and dedication, even genius ability can be overcome. After the fight, Genji Kamogawa and Miguel Zale have a talk, and they understand that a rematch between their 2 fighters won't happen, since the only reason Ippo won was because of his experience, but now there is no factor that can give him a chance for victory. They also agree that despite not being able to face each other again, they still see bright and big futures for their boxers and the boxing world. Ippo's world ranking is 13 and his OPBF ranking is 1 before he begins the OPBF conquest. After defeating the three Asian champions, his world ranking has risen to 6, which is higher than the world ranking of OPBF Champion Miyata Ichirou (7). Ippo has successfully become the unofficial champ of the orient. Boxing style Ippo's boxing style is said to be modeled after Mike Tyson and Hamada Tsuyoshi. He is a natural In Fighter, a great Hard Puncher with an impressive KO rate of 100%. His punching power, durability, and fighting spirit are considered to be his greatest attributes; each is unparalleled in Japan. His style has had vast improvements throughout the series, and now consist of sways, liver blows, and a Sunday Punch: the Dempsey Roll. His strong flurry of blows have earned him the title Wind God (while Ichirou Miyata has the title Lightning God due to his fast blows). He is the number one In Fighter in Japan. Training One of the main reasons for Ippo's success as a boxer is his willingness to train. To his surprise Ippo had already developed a physical base that would help him in boxing--and particularly in his own fighting style. Years of helping his mother carrying the fishing coolers to and from the boat helped develop his muscles and also constantly moving around on the fishing boat helped him develop a good lower body as well as good balance. To train for his fight with Jason Ozuma, he ran full speed at bars at the park in order to speed up his ducking so as to avoid Ozuma's powerful hooks. Before the rest of the Rookie King Tournament, he embarks on his first training camp with the Kamogawa gym, the camp was held at the beach and it improved Ippo's lower body strength and endurance due to all the running on the sand. To prepare for the Volg Zangief fight, Coach Kamogawa had Ippo build up his lower body with many hill runs and squats in order to build the strength needed to throw the Gazelle Punch. In Ippo's return fight after the loss to Date, he trained his lower body even more with harsh sprints, he also decided to improve his bobbing and weaving and unknowingly used a not so polished version of the Dempsey roll. To prepare for his second fight with Sendou, he had a training camp in the mountains. There, Nekota introduced Ippo to the method of chopping wood to help back strength, and further utilized running in the mountains to add more leg strength. Techniques *''Peek-a-Boo Style'' - Ippo's most commonly used boxing stance. After the match with Oda, Kamogawa noticed Ippo's weak defense and taught him the Peek-A-Boo. Ippo continues to use this style as it allows for a strong defense while allowing him to attack without giving up any power. *One-step Straight Punch - Ippo's First Punching technique taught by Takamura. *''Weaving'' - In order to prepare to avoid Mashiba's flicker jabs, Ippo worked on his lower body by running and sprinting. This allowed Ippo to bob and weave his head around, making it difficult for the opponent to make a clean hit. *Turtle Strategy - In Ippo's first spar (against Miyata) while he didn't know any techniques, Takamura taught him the Turtle strategy (or "Operation Turtle"). After the spar against him, Ippo used it just once more during his sixth title defense. *Counter - Even though Ippo is not a counter-user he has trained to use ones such as using a uppercut counter against Jason Ozuma's hook and using a cross hook to counter Hayami Ryuuichi's uppercut. *''Liver Blow'' - A body blow aimed directly under the right side of the ribs. Ippo uses it constantly since it is very effective against Out-boxers. It was first used against Mashiba Ryou. *One Centimeter Punch- "Motionless Short Uppercut" Ippo, during his second spar with Miyata threw an uppercut directly upward instead of with a curve, due to Miyata's reflexes, the punch only hit the tip of his chin and ended up doing more damage than if the blow wasn't dodged. This "Uppercut" was revived by Ippo against Sendou in the All-Japan Rookie Finals as a different type of Smash (which it was originally). Ippo used it to counter Sendou's own smash successfully. It is noted that despite the technique being faster, it sacrificed some power to attain that speed. *Gazelle Punch - A punch where Ippo springs downwards and then launches himself forward using the momentum of that motion into an uppercut. It was first used on Volg Zangief. *'Dempsey Roll' - Ippo's KO punch. After Ippo recovered from his match against Date, he had a comeback match with the 3rd ranked seed in Thailand. The nervous Ippo trained on dodging and punching, and while doing so thought up a way to punch and dodge in the same time. When the opponent was trapped by the ropes, Ippo started a combination of dodging and punching in a form of the figure eight, a combination that was completely identical to the Dempsey roll, a technique that the world heavyweight champion of 1920, Jack Dempsey had used. Ippo relies on this technique quite a bit, although it has many weaknesses. The Dempsey Roll itself is a technique that relies on moving in the shape of a figure eight while attacking the opponent with hooks (later Ippo discovers a way to use uppercuts as well), thus allowing the user to attack from a blind side, and then switch to the other using the centrifugal force built up. As the speed increases with the number of rotations the user's power increases along with it. *Sakki - Before the match against Sendo (the second), Ippo learned about the sakki feint. He managed to use this to his advantage when using the Ultimate Dempsey Roll Combo. It's important to note however as stated by both Coach Kamogawa and Takamura, Ippo doesn't specifically use Sakki but instead uses his own version of it; Courage. *New Dempsey Roll - Before his fight with Sawamura Ryuuhei Ippo realizes the flaws of the Dempsey roll and comes up with this solution: to include a series of start/stop motions which make the pattern of the technique unpredictable to counter punchers. Ippo seals the move after the match since it cuts short his boxing career. *Shoulder Block - Its not something that you need to learn, since this technique is very simple. Since Ippo's a pure in-fighter he had to face Jimmy Sisphar jolt blow without retreating, to lessen the damage, Ippo blocked the blow with his shoulder. *Swing *Heart Break Shot *Cross Arm Block- In the match against Sanada, Ippo used this to protect himself from the Tsubame Gaeshi. He had also used it against other opponents such as Shimabukuro, Sawamura and Wally and many others. He used this technique after remembering his fight with Kobashi Kenta. *Heart Break Shot (first used in fight with Gedo) - A technique learned from Date, Ippo does not have much control over it. Against Gedo, Ippo had a problem of getting close to him. When he got close he didn't know where to punch, so in spontaneous way he just decided to punch the heart. He evolved it into his own by using it as a kind of feint and using raw power to achieve the blow instead of a corkscrew blow. *Jolt Blow - Ippo learned the Tornado Jolt in the match against Jimmy. When Ippo faced Jimmy's jolt blows he understood that he will lose if he faced those punches with regular blows. So in order to create punches with the same effect, Ippo himself used the blow. It was after this match that Ippo's nickname, "Wind God", first arose. *Southpaw Stance - During his debut match against Oda Yuusuke, Ippo sustains a cut over his left eye that threatens to end the bout. Though unfamiliar to him, he instinctively adopts this style in order to protect the cut, resulting in a KO win by way of overwhelming right jabs which had the power of straights. Ippo also appears to switch from a Brawling Stance to a southpaw stance before delivering the finishing blow to Kojima Hisato. *Tekken - Miguel Zale stated that Ippo took after Kamogawa with the "Iron Fist" aka Tekken right before his boxer Woli was defeated. Although Ippo achieved this in an albeit safer way than Kamogawa, by using a hammer to knock the logs into the hill instead of his fists. Ippo managed to use this without breaking his fists or ending his career. *Brawling Stance - For the first time in the series, Ippo becomes genuinely angry enough to want to brawl in the ring when his opponent, Kojima Hisato, insults all of Ippo's previous opponents. He adopts a stance very similar to Takamura's during the Bryan Hawk match; his gaurd is down, his stance is low and he gathers power in his fist to unleash a full-force punch. The result of this stance is that Ippo completely ignores defense--he is easily hit with a counter from Kojima--but becomes so offense-oriented that he not only resists a down, he retaliates with a punch that sends a man from two weight classes higher than him literally flying backward. Ippo's potential with this stance is yet unknown, but there is evidence that his notorious "fighting spirit" is fully activated in this stance. There is little evidence that he will be using it again any time soon. *Free Form Dempsey Roll - This is considered (by Takamura Mamoru) to be the ultimate progression of the Dempsey Roll. The only variation to it from the New/Dempsey Roll is the addition of an extremely low sway which allows Ippo to throw uppercuts. In this "free form" Dempsey Roll, Ippo can perform hooks, uppercuts, and potentially overhands (if he reverses the motion of the sway) while weaving his head at full speed in unpredictable directions. In the words of Takamura: "It would become an unlimited, free form, high-speed combination... You wouldn't be able to aim a counter against it." Numerous characters, including Coach Kamogawa and Takamura, have stated that this move pushes the limits of the lower human body and would quickly shorten Ippo's boxing career if he performed it repeatedly. He has only used it during the Jimmy Sisfa match. However, following Ippo's eighth title defense, Kamogawa hinted at Yagi that he was preparing Ippo's lower body to handle repeated uses of the move. Weaknesses Ippo is notoriously simple-minded. In nearly all of his matches, difficulties arose when his opponent did something he had not prepared for, such as Malcolm Gedo's Magic Punch and Woli's Corner Work. In fact, he lost the championship match with Date Eiji entirely because he failed to grasp how the champ was negating the power behind his punches. Interestingly, the few times Ippo did something his opponents didn't expect, he won the match (such as his southpaw stance in his first fight, or his brawling stance in his match with Kojima). Because of his height, Ippo is at a disadvantage outside of close-range. Although he can close in on enemies quickly, he has no options but to move forward in every one of his fights. He once stated to Itagaki Manabu that he envied out-boxers and their abilitiy to outbox and infight at will. Match History Spars This list does not include the numerous spars Ippo has had with his fellow gymmates. *VS Miyata Ichirou 3R KO Loss (Match Simulation) *VS Miyata Ichirou 4R KO Win (Match Simulation) *VS Ogawa Naoya 1R KO Win (Pro Test) *VS Omori 1R (Sparring) *VS Date Eiji 3R (Sparring) *VS Shigeta Akira 3R (Sparring) *VS Ricardo Martinez 1R (Sparring) *VS Itagaki Manabu 3R KO Win (Sparring) *VS Imai Kyousuke 3R (Sparring) *VS Volg Zangief 3R KO Loss (Sparring) *VS Imai Kyousuke 2R (Sparring) *VS Fukui 3R KO Win (Match Simulation) *VS Mashiba Ryou 3R (Sparring) Noticable Matches *vs Fujiwara Yoshio: First 1 round KO *vs Mashiba Ryou: East Japan Rookie King Finals *vs Sendou Takeshi: All Japan Rookie King *vs Keigo Okita: Fight against former East Japan Rookie King *vs Alexander Volg Zangief: Fight against former Amatuer World Champion and Class A Championship *vs Date Eiji: First Title Match and First loss *vs Sendou Takeshi: Fight for Japanese Title *vs Sanada Kazuki: Fight against former Jr Featherwieght Champion and First fight as Champion *vs Yi Yonsu: Featherweight Title record KO time *vs Shimabukuro Iwao: Fight for title of Japan's Strongest Infighter *vs Sawamura Ryuuhei:' First fight with a counter specialist' *vs Karasawa Takuzou: First fight with no injuries *vs Wally: First victory with the second throwing in the towel *vs Kojima Hisato: First KO victory won by a single blow. Successions {C} Trivia *Ippo's boxing trunks were handmade by his mother. *He apparently has a very large penis, which Takamura has teased him about in front of waitresses, during a match, and even in front of Kumi. *His given name Ippo means "one step", creating a pun in the series' title (as Hajime means "beginning" or "first", therefore "The First Step"). *He once practiced outboxing with his kouhai Naomichi. Though he was good at dodging and had rhythm, he found it difficult to throw punches and keep his concentration. The coach told him never to do it again and he has yet to. *Ippo is a terrible driver, though he can steer a boat just fine. He's also awful at baseball and editing manga, and has never been shown catching a fish, though he has been shown fishing numerous times. *In a real-life simulated fight between Ippo and Joe from Ashita no Joe, Ippo won in the fifth round by knockout. He was knocked down several times during the fight and had trouble keeping up with Joe's speed, but, in true Ippo fashion, he got back up each time and kept trying, until he finally scored his signature liver blow. *Although numerous characters displayed the show's trademark "fighting spirit" (characterized by a glowing light in their eyes), Ippo didn't "activate" his spirit until his title match with Sendou Takeshi in the season finale of the anime. That he proceeded to win the fight is evidence that he has the strongest fighting spirit in the series. *Ippo's boxing style is said to be modeled after Mike Tyson and Hamada Tsuyoshi. His Dempsey Roll is named after the technique used by World Champion Jack Dempsey (circa 1920s). *Though he is a 126 lb. featherweight, Ippo once knocked out someone from two weight classes higher than him with a single punch (making him flip backward through the air, no less), and can give Takamura, then a middleweight, trouble in an arm wrestling match. *As of volume 99, Ippo can catch an estimated 23 leaves with both hands, with at least 11 being caught with his left. He can also carry 8 boxes full of fish. Category:Active boxers Category:Characters from Japan Category:Kamogawa Boxing Gym Category:Featherweights Category:In Fighters Category:Japanese Featherweight Champion Category:Eastern Japan Rookie King Category:All Japan Rookie King Category:Male characters Category:Makunouchi Fishing Boat Ippo Category:Boxers Category:Orthodox Boxers Category:Characters from Tokyo Category:Champions